It’s Hard to Become a Non-Citizen, Too

As eager as many are to claim U.S. citizenship, there are also those who are just as eager to shed it. But the State Department doesn’t make it easy to renounce, apparently.

In 2009, Kenneth Fox, a Jewish American by birth who has lived in Israel and been a citizen of that country for over a decade, sought what’s known as a Certificate of Loss of Nationality — a piece of paper declaring him free and clear of the fetters (some would say privileges, but that’s neither here nor there) of U.S. citizenship.

The State Department rejected Mr. Fox’s request, finding that he didn’t satisfy the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.

Mr. Fox obtained his Israeli citizenship via the “Law of Return,” which says that every Jew has the right to come to the country and stay.

He applied for permanent residence, but the State Department said that wasn’t enough. Mr. Fox also had to apply for naturalization, but he hadn’t done so — because he automatically obtained it through the Law of Return, the State Department said.

Mr. Fox eventually sued to get his certificate in federal district court in Washington. He lost and then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. A three-judge panel, in this ruling Tuesday, appeared mystified by the State Department’s refusal to let Mr. Fox renounce.

“This conclusion appears to be based on an unpersuasive view of the requirements of the INA, some seemingly faulty assumptions about the requirements of Israeli law, and possible misunderstandings of the material facts in this case,” wrote Judge Harry T. Edwards.

The most obvious flaw in the department’s argument, Judge Edwards wrote, is that the INA defines “naturalization” as “the conferring of nationality of a state upon a person after birth, by any means whatsoever.”

“How then can it matter whether Appellant applied for Israeli nationality ‘by naturalisation’ or ‘by return’?” the judge wrote.

Lawyers for the department had argued the agency’s interpretation was reasonable, because it prevents dual–U.S. Israeli citizens from losing their American citizenship inadvertently. But the D.C. Circuit asked how the risk could exist when, under the INA, people obtaining naturalization elsewhere have to specifically intend to lose their U.S. citizenship in order to lose it.

The D.C. Circuit kicked Mr. Fox’s case back to the State Department for reconsideration. An agency spokesman didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

Mr. Fox’s lawyer, Jack L. B. Gohn, expressed a sense of “vindication and relief,” in an interview with Law Blog.

About Law Blog

The Law Blog covers the legal arena’s hot cases, emerging trends and big personalities. It’s brought to you by lead writer Jacob Gershman with contributions from across The Wall Street Journal’s staff. Jacob comes here after more than half a decade covering the bare-knuckle politics of New York State. His inside-the-room reporting left him steeped in legal and regulatory issues that continue to grab headlines.

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